Tube cleaner



Aug. 8, 1933. H, yOUNG 1,921,019

TUBE CLEANER Filed June 30, 1931 INVENTOR Patented Aug. 8, 1933 UNITED STATES TUBE CLEANER James Henry Young, Bronx, N. Y., assignor to 'Thomas C. Wilson, Incorporated, New York,

N. Y., a Corporation of New York Application June 30, 1931. Serial No. 547,874

3 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for cleaning tubes such as boiler tubes, etc. and is concerned more particularly with a novel tube cleaner of the rotary type which includes a body carrying a plurality of frames swinging about axes parallel to the axis of the body and carrying shafts on which cutters are mounted, these frames moving outwardly under the action of centrifugal force during the operation of the device to bring the cutters into action.

Tube cleaners which include swinging frames carrying cutting tools'have been in use for some time, and my invention is directed to the provision of an improved construction which operates with full effectiveness but is cheaper to construct and easier to dismantle and assemble than the prior cleaners.

The novel tube cleaner of this invention includes a body having a plurality of radially extending arms near one end and a retainer collar near the other end. Aligned recesses in the arms and collar provide means for. holding the ends of swing shafts about which frames carrying cutter shafts and cutters are pivoted. The whole cleaner is held assembled by the collar which in turn is held in place by a shoulder on the driving shaft which is screwed into the the body. Thus, by merely removing the driving shaft, the collar may be taken from the body and the entire device disassembled.

Wieans are also providedwhereby the cutter shafts cannot be removed until the swing shafts have been removed, thus making even this part of the assembly depend upon the collar to prevent its being disassembled.

With the construction vdescribed, the parts of the cleaner are held assembled without a multiplicityof threaded parts, nuts, etc., and the cut ting of threads and other expensive machining operations are reduced to a minimum.

The new cleaner includes various features of novelty in addition to those above mentioned and the construction may be best understood on consideration of the accompanying drawing in which 7 Fig. 1 is an end view of the tube cleaner in place in a section of boiler tube;

Fig. 2 is a side view of thetube cleaner partly in section;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View of the tube cleaner taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 2 and showing the position and operation of the lock shafts;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the single swinging frame of the cleaner carrying a slightly different kind of cutter. 1

As shown in the drawings thestructure which most advantageously includes the principles of my invention comprises a body 10 which includes an elongated triangular-shaped member. 11' having three radially. projecting arms 12 spaced 120 apart at one end. At the other end of the triangular-shaped member 11, the body 10 has a cylindrical section 13 in which is a ,65 threaded opening 14 receiving the threaded end of a drive shaft 15. A cup-shaped retaining collar 16 receives the cylindrical portion 13 and is held in place by a shoulder 1'7 onthe drive shaft 15 which shaft passes through a hole 18 in the end of the retaining collar. A keyway 19 in the retaining collar 16 and a corresponding keyway 20 in the cylindrical portion 13 of the body receive a key2l which prevents relative rotation of the body and the retaining collar. 1 o

A recess 22 formed in each of the radially extending arms 12 and a corresponding recess 23 in the retaining collar cooperate to hold a swing shaft 24 upon which a swinging frame 25 is journalled between the arm and the collar. The swinging frame 25 is U-shaped and is bored so that the swing shaft 24 passes loosely through. the base of the U and the legs of the U project radially from the swing shaft.

A cutter shaft 27 is'loosely received in a bore which passes through the legs of the U near their ends and rotary cutters are loosely journalled upon this shaft both between the legs of the U and at one side of the legs of the U. The cutters 28 between the legs of the U are generally cylindrical in shape and may be separated from each other by a washer or washers 29 while the cutter 30 which is at one side of the legs of the swinging frame is of decreasing overall diameter from one end to the other with its smaller end remote from the frame. Preferably the surface of the cutter is slightly convex instead of conical. The end cutter 30 is held in place by a head 31 on the cutter shaft 27. Instead of using cutters 28, as shown in Fig. 2, the cutters may be narrower and more numerous as shown in Fig. 4 in which case there are shown six cutters 28a and five washers.

In order to prevent the cutter shaft from moving longitudinally out of the bore in the swinging frame, one of the legs of the U-shaped member is bored to receive a lock pin 32. This bore intersects the bore for the cutter shaft 2'? and the cutter shaft 2'7 is cut away to permit the look pin 32 to pass through the bore. When the lock pin 32 is in place, it looks the cutter shaft 2'7 against movement. The bore for the lock pin 32 also intersects the bore in the base of the U- shaped swinging frame through which the swing shaft 24 passes and at this intersection the lock pin is cut away so that it straddles a part of the swing shaft and the lock pin is therefore held against movement by the swing shaft.

In taking the device apart, the drive shaft 15 is first unscrewed from the body 10 and the collar 16 moved endwise off the end of the body. This frees the several swing shafts 24, seated at one end in the collar, and these shafts may then be moved longitudinally from the bores in the swinging frames. The lock pins 32 may then be removed from their bores, releasing the cutter shafts and permitting their removal. All these parts are securely fastened in place so long as the drive shaft is screwed into the body and only the one set of'screw threads on the drive shaft and body are necessary to lock the whole device in assembled condition. 1

In order that the cut-out portion on the cutter shaft may be easily located sothat'the shaft may be turned to allow the lock pin to pass through its bore, the head of the cutter bolt is provided with a flat 33 corresponding in position to the cut-out portion through which the lock pin passes. By simply turning the flat on the head towards the lock pin, the cut-out portion of the cutter shaft ispresented in proper position so that the lock pin may pass through the bore.

In order that the device be prevented from slipping through the tube being cleaned into a header at the end of the tube or coming in contact with an elbow, ,a threaded opening 35 is provided in the end of the body opposite to the driving shaft and a feeler rod 36 is screwed into this opening and projects a distance beyond the tool.

In the operation of the device, the rotation of the body subjects the frames to centrifugal action which causes them to swing outwardly to bring the cutters into contact with the inner wall of the tube. In order to limit the swing of the frames, the lock pins 32 extend beyond the Ushaped frames at the base thereof so as to contact with one of the corners of the triangular secti n 11 of the body 10, and arrest the swinging movement.

In assembling the device, a cutter 30 is mounted on a cut er shaft 27 and this shaft is passed through the bore in one leg of a frame,,through aligned cutters 28 between the legs of the frame, and through the bore in the other leg of the frame. The locking pin 32 is then placed in proper position in its bore in the frame and passes through the cut-away portion of shaft 27. The swing shaft is then inserted in its bore in. the frame, passing through the cut-away portion of locking pin. These operations are repeated until the group of frames is completed, at er .vhich frames are mounted in the body by insertion of the ends of their swing shafts in recesses in arms 12. The 21 is then placed in its key-way 2G in the body, and the retaining collar mounted on the body, its keyway 19 receiving the key 211 and the ends of the swing shafts entering recesses 23 in the collar. The device isv now ready to be mount d on the end of the drive shaft 15 and when the latter is screwed into theend of the body, its shoulder 17 engages the retaining collar and holds the latter against displacement. The collar holds swing shafts 24 in position, these shafts lock the lock pins 32, and the latter secure the cutter shafts in place.

After a period of use, the cutters become worn and have to be replaced. With my device, re placement of the cutters is a simple operation, since when the device is freed from the drive shaft, and the retaining collar removed, all of the other parts slip freely out of their mountings, and once the device is removed from the drive shaft, it may be completely dismantled and assembled without the use of tools.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a tube cleaner, a rotary cutter, a cutter shaft, said lock pin extending beyond said frame carrying said cutter shaft, a lock pin passing through said frame and at least partly through said cutter shaft to lock said cutter shaft in place, a swing shaft passing through said frame and at least partly through said lock pin to hold said lock pin place and to pivotally support said frame, and a body supporting said swing shaft, and lock pin extending beyond said frame and contacting with said body to prevent the excessive outward swinging of said frame.

2. A tube cleaning device comprising a body having plurality of integral arms at one end, a collar fitting over the other end of the body, a drive shaft extending through the collar and into the body, a shoulder on said drive shaft holding the collar in place, a plurality of swing shafts seated at their ends in aligned closed bottom recesses in the arms and collar, a frame mounted for pivotal movement on each shaft, a shaft mounted in each frame and carrying cutter members, and a'locking pin in each frame having a portion entering a recess in the side of the cutter shaft in said frame to prevent said shaft from moving endwise, said pin having a portion cut away to receive the swing shaft on which said frame is mounted, the engagement of said swing shaft with the pin preventing endwise movement of the pin and the pin having a portion extending out of the frame in position to engage said body and limit the swinging movement of said frame.

3. In a tube cleaning device, the combinationof a body having an integrallateral extension adjacent one end thereof, this extension having a closed bottom recess extending substantially parallel to the axis of the body, a collar mounted at the other end of the body and having a closed bottom recess facing and aligned with the recess in said extension, aswing shaft having its ends seatedin said recesses and held against endwise movement by the bottoms thereof, a mounting rockable on said swing shaft and including a pair of arms having openings therethrough, a cutter shaft mounted in said openings and carrying cutters, said shaft being of a to pass freely through said openings and a pin extending through a bore in one of said arms and having a portion cut-away so that it may straddle said swing shaft and having another portion entering a cut-away recess in the surface of said cutter shaft, said pin preventing said cutter shaft from moving endwise and being held against endwise movement by said swing shaft, said pin having a portion extending from the frame beyond said swing shaft.

. JAMES H. YOUNG.

CERTIFlCATE 0F CGRREC'EIQN.

Patem N9. 1,923,6i%. August 8, 1933.

JAMES HENRY YQUNG.

I: is hereby firtified that error appears the minted specification of the wave mmvere gmtent requiring cmrection as Esfiiows: Page 2, Hue 93, claim 1, strike smifiize cam-ma and WGi'dS said; Isak pin extending heyimd said" and er: iasimd "carrying said matter, a swinging"; and line 101, far "and" read ti'aai the said Leimrs Patent shank! read wiih thew cerrecfimis a may cfinfm'm is the recvwi m the case in in: Patent fiffice. Sigfi and seaied this 26th flay 0? Septemher, A. D. 3933.

1 M. Hopkins (Sea!) Acting (lommissiener of Patents. 

